Univision Communications Inc. was founded in 1962 as Spanish International Network. Rene Anselmo, an American-Mexican TV executive of Cuban-Italian-American descent, Emilio Nicolas, Sr., owner of KUAL-TV (now KWEX-TV) in San Antonio, and Mexican radio-TV magnate Emilio Azcárraga Vidaurreta, head of Telesistemas Mexicanos (now Televisa). They consolidated the operations of some independent Latino stations into a network. In 1987, Nicholas sold his part of the company to Hallmark Cards, and the name was changed to Univision.

From September 1996 to April 2007, Univision Communications Inc. traded in the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol UVN.

In 2001, Univision Communications Inc. acquired USA Broadcasting, the station group of USA Networks, which included 13 full-power television stations. Most of these stations became part of a new network called TeleFutura, which it launched in 2002, now UniMás.[14] Others joined Univision. In 2003, Univision completed the acquisition of Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation to form Univision Radio.[15]

In 2009, Univision Interactive Media was formed to house Univision.com, Univision Móvil, and an array of digital offerings.[17] Univision On Demand also debuted in 2009, through distribution partners.[18] That same year Univision also created Univision Studios, a new production arm focused on producing and co-producing content for the company’s platforms.[19]

Since June 2011, Randy Falco has been President and CEO of UCI, and since then has increased UCI’s earnings.[20] Falco’s contract was recently renewed until January 2018.[9] In the fall of 2012, Univision celebrated its 50th anniversary by unveiling a new brand logo and a new tagline identifying Univision as the “Hispanic Heartbeat of America.”[21]

The company owns and operates two broadcast networks, Univision Network the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network, available in approximately 93% of U.S. Hispanic television households.[22][23] It is one of the top five networks in the country and 91% of Univision’s audience consumes content live vs. 70 percent for English-language networks.[24][25] UniMás is among the leading Spanish-language broadcast television networks.[26] More recently, UCI has grown its offerings with the launch of cable networks Univision Deportes, Univision tlnovelas and, additional cable, digital and multiplatform offerings.[27][28][29]

In 2013, UCI announced a strategic partnership which launched El Rey, a new English-language network geared towards young-adult audiences led by Robert Rodriguez.[30] That year Univision also rebranded its TeleFutura network into UniMás, which targets males ages 18 to 35, and broadcasts dramatic series, soccer events, reruns of classic shows and feature films.[31] In addition, in 2013 Univision formed its joint venture with ABC/Disney to launch "Fusion", a 24-hour, English-language cable news network.[32]

In 2014, UCI launched Univision Mobile, La Fabrica and TheFlama.com and also continued to increase the reach of Univision Deportes, Fusion and El Rey.[33][34][35][36] Also in 2014, UCI expanded its partnership with Hulu, building on its launch as the first Spanish-language offering on Hulu in 2012.[37]

In 2015, UCI signed a deal with Sling TV that grants Sling TV innovative Over-the-top programming and multi-stream rights for live and video-on-demand content from Univision Network, UniMás, UDN, Galavisión, El Rey Network, Bandamax, De Película, De Película Clásico, Telehit, tlNovelas, FOROtv, as well as Univision and UniMás broadcast stations nationwide.[38]

UCI’s portfolio of properties consists of 16 broadcast cable and digital networks, including El Rey and Fusion, and 128 local TV and Radio stations. UCI’s properties also include consumer products and brand licensing.[43]

3 WLII and WSUR were taken over by Univision in 2002, but this was under a local marketing agreement with Raycom Media until Univision bought the stations outright in 2005.

4 WSTE was taken over by Univision in 2002, but this was via WLII's local marketing agreement with Siete Grande Television (and in turn Univision's LMA with Raycom until 2005). Univision bought WSTE outright in 2007.

5 KUTH is owned by Univision, but was operated by Equity Media Holdings under a local marketing agreement until Univision took full control of the station in 2009.

6 KNIC is the only station to be built and signed-on by Univision Communications.

Univision Contigo, UCI’s public service initiative, is an expansion of UCI’s investment and partnership efforts to service Hispanics in the U.S. and builds upon UCI’s engagement with the Hispanic community. Univision Contigo is designed to focus on education, health, financial literacy and voter participation in the Hispanic community.[58]

UCI’s social media strategy is centered on engagement. UCI leverages social media platforms to connect with its audience. UCI’s social media platforms allow Univision viewers to directly access content and connect with their favorite TV personalities.[59][60]

UCI and its executives have been recognized for their news, entertainment, humanitarian efforts and sports.

Univision News has been recognized with the Peabody, Walter Cronkite and Gracies awards for its special “Entre el abandono y el rechazo”; the King of Spain International (Digital) Journalism Award for “Niños de la Frontera” part of Univision Noticia’s La Huella Digital; and GLAAD Media Awards in the categories Outstanding Local TV Journalism for “Cobertura de Spirit Day” by Noticias 34 (KMEX-Univision 34) and Outstanding Documentary for “Identidad sin fronteras” part of Panorámica, a Univision/Pivot co-production.[61][62][63][64][65] The Radio & Television News Association of Southern California (RTNA) also recognized Univision Noticias with eight Golden Mikes including the top honor, Broadcast Legend Award to Univision News anchor María Elena Salinas.[66] Univision News anchor Jorge Ramos, described as “one of the most aggressive and influential newsmen in America” by Michael Scherer in his profile of Ramos published November 20, 2014, was named to the 2015 TIME 100, the magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[67][68]

UCI’s President and CEO, Randy Falco, has been recognized by National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) with Board of Trustees’ Award and by Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), with a Champion Award.[69][70] UCI is recipient of the Business Champion for Children Award by ReadyNation and the company’s early childhood development program, Pequeños y Valiosos – a partnership between Univision and Too Small to Fail – has been recognized by Cynopsis with the Social Good Award.[71][72]

UCI’s sports network, Univision Deportes (UDN) is recipient of two Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Live Sports Coverage in Spanish: 2014 FIFA World Cup and Outstanding Studio Show in Spanish: Fútbol Central by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS); additionally, UDNs’ President Juan Carlos Rodriguez has been bestowed the Sports Network Executive of the Year Navigator Award by Cynopsis, while UDN accepted awards in the categories ‘Tech Innovation’ and ‘Best Spot Over:30.’[73][74]